Toronto festival doc offers glimpse into syariah, women's rights

NEARLY a decade after shattering the glass ceiling of Islamic jurisprudence, the first woman judge to be appointed to a syariah court in the Middle East says women's rights still have a way to go.

Kholoud al–Faqih was at the Toronto film festival on Monday for the premiere of Erika Cohn's documentary The Judge, which looks at syariah law through the eyes of the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East's religious courts.

"I'm personally satisfied with the speed of progress in Palestine," Faqih told AFP. "But I wish the rest of the Middle East would hasten their recognition of Arab women's rights."